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Buddhism

The life of the Buddha

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Students follow Siddhattha Gotama from his birth and sheltered palace life, through the Four Sights, the Great Renunciation and six years of asceticism, to the Middle Way, his Enlightenment and why his life matters to Buddhists.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What was the Buddha’s name before his Enlightenment?

Key term

Where was the Buddha born, and roughly when did he live?

Key term

Describe the life of luxury Siddhattha was given as a young man.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was the Buddha’s name before his Enlightenment?

    Model answer

    The Buddha was born Siddhattha Gotama, or Siddhartha Gautama in Sanskrit. Gotama belonged to the Shakya clan of northern India.

  2. 2

    Where was the Buddha born, and roughly when did he live?

    Model answer

    Tradition places the birth at Lumbini, in what is now southern Nepal. Most historians date the Buddha’s life to the fifth century BCE.

  3. 3

    Describe the life of luxury Siddhattha was given as a young man.

    Model answer

    Siddhattha’s father, King Suddhodana, raised him in palaces with every comfort. Servants kept sickness, old age and death out of the young prince’s sight.

  4. 4

    Why did King Suddhodana keep his son inside the palace?

    Model answer

    A prophecy said the boy would become either a great king or a great holy man. Suddhodana wanted a royal heir and hid all suffering from him.

  5. 5

    Name the Four Sights that Siddhattha saw outside the palace.

    Model answer

    Siddhattha saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse. The fourth sight was a holy man who had given up all possessions.

  6. 6

    What did the first three of the Four Sights teach Siddhattha?

    Model answer

    Illness, old age and death come to every person, however rich or royal. Palace walls could not keep suffering away from Siddhattha for ever.

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